September S&P 500 futures (ESU23) are down -0.48%, and September Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQU23) are down -0.53% this morning as concerns over the Chinese economy weighed on risk appetite, while investors looked ahead to testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for more cues on the U.S. central bank’s rate outlook.
In Friday’s trading session, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 underperformed major benchmarks, pressured by a drop in chip stocks after Micron Technology (MU) warned that about half of its China customer revenue is at risk of being lost. Regional bank stocks also lost ground, weighed down by an over -1% drop in Zions Bancorporation (ZION) after Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. In addition, Walt Disney (DIS) fell more than -1% and was the top percentage loser on the blue-chip Dow after the company said CFO Christine McCarthy would step down on account of a family medical leave of absence. On the positive side, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (SPCE) surged over +16% after the company announced it would start commercial spaceflight operations this month.
